Freshman guard
Brian Barner (Palisades HS)
drained a three-pointer from the top of the key with
0.8 seconds left in regulation to give the Cerritos
College men's basketball team a 57-56 South Coast
Conference South Division win over El Camino College
on Wednesday night. With the win, the Falcons sixth
in a row and seventh in their last eight games, puts
their season record at 11-13, while they are 5-1 in
divisional play. The win sets up a showdown against
cross-town rival Long Beach City College on Friday
night at 7:30 p.m., with the title on the line, as
both teams are 5-1 in the division. In their first
meeting, Cerritos handed the Vikings a 78-48 defeat,
the worst loss in the history of their rivalry.
The Falcons have
been known for their thrilling wins as of late,
after suffering several close losses earlier in the
year. In their first meeting with the Warriors,
Cerritos missed the last shot of the game and
dropped a 65-64 decision. However, just a week ago,
the Falcons scored seven points in the final 2.8
seconds of regulation to send their game against Los
Angele Trade-Tech College into overtime. Even after
falling behind by five in the extra period, Cerritos
went on to post a 107-100 win.
Against El Camino
(11-14, 3-4), Cerritos held a 50-44 lead with 5:27
left in the game only to see the Warriors go on a
10-0 run to lead 54-50 with 3:08 remaining. But
after a steal and basket by freshman guard
Leo Arnold
(Santa Monica HS), followed by another
Arnold steal that led to a pair of free throws by
sophomore guard
Van Girard
(Gahr HS), the game was tied at 54-54 with
1:45 left.
Warrior forward
Steve Peres (21 points) converted a pair of free
throws with 1:19 on the clock to give El Camino the
lead. It looked like it would hold after a Cerritos
turnover gave the Warriors the ball back. But El
Camino missed a shot and the Falcons looked for the
final shot. Coming out of a timeout with 8.8 seconds
left, freshman guard
Jeremy Pope
(Mayfair HS) fed the ball to Barner, who
was 2-of-10 from outside the arch before his
game-winning shot.
Freshman forward
Marcellus Jackson (Independence HS)
led the team with 13 points and added nine rebounds,
while Barner finished with 11 points. Girard (nine
points, 10 rebounds) and freshman guard
Sean
Chennault (Ben Franklin (PA) HS),
who scored nine points, had good games, as did Pope,
who dished out seven assists.
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